Chapter 9

OIS Discounting, Credit

Issues, and Funding Costs

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Treasury Rates
Treasury rates are lower than other very low
risk rates because
Treasury instruments must often be held by
financial institutions for regulatory purposes
Treasury instruments require no capital
Treasury instruments have favorable tax treatment
in the US because they are not taxed at the state
level
As a result Treasury rates are not a used by
derivatives dealers as a proxy for the risk-free
rate
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The “Risk-Free” Discount Rate
A risk-free discount rate is in theory necessary to value
derivatives
LIBOR and swap rates have traditionally been used as
proxies for risk-free rates by derivatives dealers
During the crisis banks were reluctant to lend to each
other and LIBOR soared
As a result, practices in the market have changed
For collateralized transactions derivatives dealers now
use the OIS rate as the discount rate (It is argued that
collateralized transactions are funded by the collateral)
For non-collateralized transactions a rate reflecting the
bank’s funding cost is often used
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OIS Rates
In an overnight indexed swap a fixed rate for a period
is exchanged for the geometric average of the
overnight rates
Should OIS rate equal the LIBOR rate? A bank can
Borrow $100 million in the overnight market, rolling forward
for 3 months
Enter into an OIS swap to convert this to the 3-month OIS
rate
Lend the funds to another bank at LIBOR for 3 months

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Overnight Indexed Swaps continued
...but it bears the credit risk of another bank in
this arrangement
The OIS rate is therefore less than the
corresponding LIBOR rate
The excess of LIBOR over the OIS rate is the
LIBOR-OIS spread. It is usually about 10 basis
points but spiked at an all time high of 364 basis
points in October 2008

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The 3 Month LIBOR-OIS
Spread

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The OIS Zero Curve
When OIS discounting is used, it is necessary
to determine the OIS zero curve
This can be bootstrapped from OIS rates in the same
way that the LIBOR/swap zero curve is bootstrapped
from quotes for LIBOR-for-fixed swaps
When long maturity OIS swaps do not exist, it is
necessary to make an assumption about the spread
between OIS swap rates and LIBOR-for-fixed swap
rates

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Swap Valuation
LIBOR-for-fixed interest rate swaps are
always valued on the assumption that forward
LIBOR rates are realized
But forward LIBOR rates depend on whether
OIS or LIBOR discounting is used

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Example
One-year LIBOR rate is 5%
Two year LIBOR-for-fixed swap rate is 6%
Both rates are annually compounded

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If LIBOR is used for
discounting…
The two year LIBOR/swap zero rate is R
where 6 106
 2
 100
1.05 (1  R )

so that R = 6.030%
The forward LIBOR rate for the second year
is
1.0630 2
 1  7.0707%
1.05
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If LIBOR is used for
discounting continued
Check:
When the forward rate is 7.0707 and LIBOR
discounting is used the two-year swap has a value
of

6  5 6  7.0707
 2
0
1.05 1.6030

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If OIS Discounting Is Used….
Assume that OIS zero rates for one and two
years have been bootstrapped as 4.5% and
5.5% with annual compounding
If F is the forward LIBOR rate for the second
year then
65 6 F
 2
0
1.045 1.055

so that F is 7.0651%
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Swap Valuation with OIS
Discounting
Forward LIBOR rates are calculated as for
this simple example
Typically, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month and 12-
month forward rates are calculated separately
from the corresponding swap quotes.
Interpolation is used to calculate the forward
rates to value a particular existing swap.

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Valuing Bilaterally Cleared
Derivatives Portfolios
A dealer first calculates the value of a portfolio of
derivatives with a counterparty assuming neither side
will default
It then reduces the value of the portfolio to reflect
possible losses from a counterparty default. This is
the credit value adjustment (CVA)
It then increases the value to reflect possible gains
from a default by itself. This is the debit value
adjustment (DVA)

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Valuing Bilaterally Cleared
Derivatives Portfolios continued
Value after credit adjustments is:
No-default value − CVA + DVA

CVA and DVA adjustments should reflect

collateral arrangements

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 The CVA Calculation
Time 0 t1 t2 t3 t4 ……………… tn=T

Counterparty q1 q2 q3 q4 ……………… qn
default probability

PV of dealer’s loss v1 v2 v3 v4 ……………… vn

given default

n
CVA   qi vi
i 1

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 The DVA Calculation
Time 0 t1 t2 t3 t4 ……………… tn=T

Dealer default q1* q2 * q3* q4* ……………… qn*

probability

PV of counterparty’s v1* v2 * v3 * v4* ……………… vn *

loss given default

n
DVA   qivi
i 1

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Funding Costs
Many dealers argue that they should take funding
costs into account when non-collateralized
transactions are valued
This leads to what is known as a funding value
adjustment (FVA)
An FVA cannot be justified theoretically…
What discount rate should a company use for an investment
in a Treasury bond.
The discount rate for a project undertaken by a company
should reflect the project’s risk not the company’s funding
cost

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